(Reuters) – Medical device maker Medtronic Plc said on Wednesday it has won the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval to immediately market its ventilator, which it plans to launch by May, to meet increased demand due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The ventilator, PB560, is currently sold in 35 countries at an average selling price of under $10,000, the company said.
As U.S. demand for ventilators skyrockets due to the fast-spreading pandemic, the government is pushing makers to boost their production capacities and has mandated carmakers to use their facilities to produce the device.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department on Wednesday awarded https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-gm/gm-to-supply-30000-ventilators-in-500-million-u-s-contract-idUSKBN21Q1YA two contracts worth more than $1 billion to General Motors Co and Philips, and plans to announce five additional contracts later this week.
Medtronic said it expects to ramp up production by nearly five-fold to more than 1,000 ventilators per week by June-end, and make over 25,000 devices available over the next six months. (https://reut.rs/2UTAYpZ)
It said it was currently testing a new feature for its PB980 ventilator with two U.S. hospitals that would allow clinicians to adjust settings remotely, reducing physicians’ exposure to patients suffering from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
(Reporting by Saumya Sibi Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
